1976 to 1990 - Disco and Big Hair Bands

 New Album Releases
1976 Malcolm McLaren manufactures a rock group to mock the manufacturing of rock groups: the Sex Pistols.
  • Alice Cooper -- Alice Cooper Goes to Hell
  • Led Zeppelin -- Presence
  • Led Zeppelin -- The Song Remains the Same
  • Rolling Stones -- Black and Blue
1977 January 6 -- EMI Fires the Sex Pistols
  • Alice Cooper -- Lace and Whiskey
  • Alice Cooper -- The Alice Cooper Show
  • Rolling Stones -- Love You Live
  • Sex Pistols -- Never Mind the Bullocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
1978  
  • Alice Cooper -- From the Inside
  • Rolling Stones -- Some Girls
  • The Who -- Who Are You
1979

February 9 -- Sid Vicious dies of heroin overdose from drugs supplied by his mother.

Sony introduced the TPS-L2 Walkman portable audio cassette player

  • Led Zeppelin -- In Through the Out Door
  • Sex Pistols -- The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
  • The Who -- The Kids Are Alright
1980

Compact Disc standard proposed by Philips & Sony.

CNN launches first 24 hour, all-news network with 1.7 million subscribers.

February -- Pink Floyd books five nights at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. All shows sell out. Despite The Wall being the no. 1 album, L.A. Top 40 radio ignores it because no one paid the independent promoters.

Unknown crooner Slim Whitman goes double platinum without radio airplay or record store sales and a new era in direct-response television marketing is born. Whitman's "label," goes on to advertise collections by Boxcar Willie (who made his public debut on The Gong Show), Nana Mouskouri, Zamfir ("Prince of the Pan Flute") and more . . . not available in stores!

  • Pink Floyd -- The Wall
  • Rolling Stones -- Emotional Rescue
1981

The first MIDI keyboards by Roland and Sequential Circuits, and the Yamaha DX7, were put on sale.

IBM introduces the Personal Computer.

Deregulatory Era Begins: Congress and FCC loosen ownership restrictions. Extend television licenses from three to five years

Content Guidelines Ease: FCC elimates minimum requirements for public affairs programming and guidelines on how much advertising can be carried per hour.

August -- MTV launched. MTV introduces itself in a Billboard ad as "the Biggest Advertising Merger in History." The merger, that is, of stereo and television. Although not so obvious at first, MTV represents a throwback to the days where programming and advertising are one and the same.

Tom Petty challenges MCA's intention to issue Hard Promises with a $9.98 list price. After he threatened to withhold the LP - or entitle it $8.98 and organize fan protest letters - the album came out at $8.98. Hard Promises went on to platinum status, with the #19 hit "The Waiting." -- source

  • Rolling Stones -- Sucking in the Seventies
  • Rolling Stones -- Tattoo You
  • The Who -- Face Dances
  • Tom Petty -- Hard Promises
1982

At the West Coast Computer Faire, Davong Systems introduces its 5MB Winchester Disk Drive for the IBM PC, for US$2000.

First digital audio 5-inch CD discs marketed,

  • Led Zeppelin -- Coda
  • Rolling Stones -- Still Life
  • The Who -- It's Hard
1983

30,000 CD Players sold in the U.S.
800,000 CD's sold in the U.S.
8-track format officially abandoned by record labels

FCC approves stereo TV.

 
1984

Second Generation & Car CD players introducted.
First Mass Replication Plant in the United States built.
Portable (i.e., Sony DiscMan) CD Players sold.

FCC requires closed captioning on all TV sets.

The Apple Macintosh is unveiled.

Cable Communications Act of 1984: Congress exchanges most rate regulation for 5% franchise fees.

The Right to Record: US Supreme Court sanctions homeowners rights to record television programs for non-commercial use in case between Sony and Hollywood.

 
1985

Sony and Philips produced the standard for Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) computer discs that would use the same laser technology as the audio CD.

ABC, CBS and NBC pass to new ownership in media conglomeration trend. GE acquires NBC as part of a $6.3 billion deal for RCA.

VHS format dominates the U.S. home market.

First Blockbuster Video store opens in Dallas

Third generation CD Players released.

FCC guidelines for minimal amounts of non-entertainment programming are abolished as are limits on how much advertising can be carried per hour.

Nike uses the Beatles' "Revolution" for a commercial.

After Bruce Springsteen releases smash-selling Born in the U.S.A and says no to advertisers, patriotic rock floods commercials. Other holdouts: Neil Young, Joan Jett, Chrissie Hynde, Bob Seger, Billy Idol, and John Mellencamp.

  • Bruce Springsteen -- Born in the USA
1986 Someone tries to burn down Tom Petty's house -- while he and his family were still in it.  
1987

Digital Audio Tape (DAT) players introduced

16-year-old Tiffany revives the teen pop idol spirit with the industry's first shopping mall tour.

 
1988

Sony introduced the D-88 Pocket Discman capable of playing 3-inch compact discs (CD-Singles).

CD-Recordable Disc/Recorder technology introduced

CD sales surpassed LP sales, leaving CD and cassette as the two dominant consumer formats.

Neil Young's video "This Note's for You," a pointed swipe at corporate sponsorship, is banned by MTV, then voted "Video of the Year" at the 1988 MTV Music Video Awards.

 
1989    
1990

28% of all U.S. households have CD's.
9.2 million players sold annually in the United States.
288 million CD's sold annually in the United States.
World Sales close to 1 Billion

Sony and Philips produce the standard for the Recordable CD-ROM (CD-R).

 

Sources